The PLEX

The Tom and Helen Flynn PLEX

Alvernia University’s Board of Trustees formally approved plans to build an innovative Recreation, Wellness and Health Sciences Complex (“The PLEX”), as the highlight of a new East Campus at the university’s Reading, Pa., location. This expansion is the largest, most ambitious in university history, adding more than 100,000 square feet of academic and recreation space and 15 acres to Alvernia’s campus.

Alvernia announces most ambitious expansion in university history

Recreation, Wellness and Health Sciences Complex is the centerpiece of a new East Campus

Plans for the new facility are a result of careful development by trustees and university leadership to ensure economic efficiency, environmental stewardship and community integration. They reflect a highly cost-effective and creative approach to holistically advance health and wellness that makes prudent use of donor and university capital while adding value to the region as well as the student experience, according to Flynn.

The new facility will allow Alvernia to expand its popular doctorate in physical therapy and other successful health science related programs. Expansion of those programs will significantly grow the number of Alvernia trained nurses and healthcare professionals produced each year. Many of these individuals will continue to work and live in Reading and Berks County after graduating, contributing to both the local community’s civic vitality and the region’s economy.

The Plex and East Campus will be located off St. Bernardine Street on a parcel of land that borders Angelica Park. It is adjacent to the school’s existing Reading location and sits directly across from its newly opened campus entrance, arrival court and Welcome Center situated in the university’s most historic building, Francis Hall. Creation of the new campus entrance, which serves as the main entryway to the university, includes a scenic boulevard that also leads to the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters’ convent. The sisters founded the institution in 1958.

“We recognize these investments are imperative to support our popular programs in the fast growing healthcare field and essential to enhance our position as a comprehensive regional university,” said Flynn. He also noted that crucial project fundraising efforts necessary to support construction of the project are underway.

Several community leaders have stepped forward to guide The PLEX fundraising campaign including: Campaign Co-Chairs Michael Fromm, president & CEO of Fromm Electric Supply Corp., and Angel Helm, retired investment banker; Honorary Co-Chairs Tom Martell, former owner and CEO of the Hub Fabricating Corp., and his wife Marcia, a prominent community volunteer, and Joanne Judge, attorney and shareholder in the Stevens & Lee law firm and co-chairwoman of its Health Care Practice Group and her husband Rick Oppenheimer, group chair for Vistage International, Inc.

“While we already have some funding set aside to support The PLEX project, during the next several years, the university will work to secure the needed remaining funds to break ground on the project,” said Flynn. “Our success is dependent on the generous support of others to make the project come to life.”

Alvernia University’s Board of Trustees formally approved plans to build an innovative Recreation, Wellness and Health Sciences Complex (“The PLEX”), as the highlight of a new East Campus at the university’s Reading, Pa., location. This expansion is the largest, most ambitious in university history, adding more than 100,000 square feet of academic and recreation space and 15 acres to Alvernia’s campus.